53dodgekustom

Not long, maybe a week? Don't remember what they charged. $75 maybe? If you call them they'll know what your talking about.

That was going to be my solution if I found a used set.

That would be awesome! It would be nice to have them in the next week or so. Just message me when you get a chance to take a look!

I shall try that. Thanks.

Haha. What a tease! Looks like they just slide in and you just bend a little tang so they can't fall out. I tried to bend mine to slide them out and it broke instantly.

Has anyone replaced these before? It's the wire spring clips that hold the fork to the release bearing collar. Mine were mangled and not holding everything tight so the bearing was riding on the clutch the whole time. When I tried to bend them I broke one. Roberts and Andy Berbaum said that they don't carry them anymore. I saw a whole bearing and collar assembly on eBay but I can only find the short collar and my car uses the long version. I might buy one and try to remove the clips from it and put it in mine. Maybe if I hear the clip up it won't break when being removed? Any input would be great! Thanks. Here is mine.

Well I figured out that I have a 10 inch pressure plate and clutch but someone put a 9.25 disc in there at some point!!! No wonder it chattered! I sent Roberts my old 10inch pressure plate to be rebuilt and he's going to send a new disc back with it.

My clutch always had a chattering problem so I decided to replace it. And my throughout bearing was shot big time. Ordered one from Roberts Motor parts. It looked fine when I set it up next to my old one. However, when I went to put the bolts in the holes were to small. So naturally I just drilled them out a little bit. Perfect!!! Then I went to put it on the flywheel and the bolts don't line up! I'm guessing my new clutch is for a 218 Plymouth flywheel? I know the 218 and the 230's have a different crankshaft bolt patterns. Roberts was surprised that my car didn't have fluid drive since most Dodges do. He did ask me if it was a 9.25 clutch which it is. I'm going to call him tomorrow and hopefully figure something out. Maybe a clutch from a truck 230 will be the same as my car? New clutch.

First things first, it's time to upgrade from the stock rear and get rid of the vibration. Old rear out. Went with a Ranger 8.8 rear. The Explorer is a better rear with disc brakes but my master cylinder is already set up for disc/drum and I wanted the inch narrower track of the Ranger to help with tire removal. Cleaned up ready to go in. New spring pads. Had to take the axles out to turn down the center hubs because my 53 Ford wheels wouldn't fit over them. Also had to buy a different end for my already custom driveshaft to fit the Ford flange. All in!

I also bought this beast! 78 Plymouth Trail Duster. Fully removable hardtop, 400 big block, 727 auto, full time 4wd. This will be the next project after the Meadowbrook is back on the road.

I had it out a couple times....it usually sat in the corner of the new shop though.

So, two years later I'm just now finishing up the drivetrain and suspension rebuild. Haven't drove it to much since my wedding day. With the driveline vibration and some braking problems it got shoved in the corner for awhile. I did move to a new shop and fully restored my white BMW motorcycle that I have so I have been busy just not on the 53. The BMW after restoration.

Hahaha. Good one Don. Hopefully I can get it figured out!

Here's the "what did I just do?" face at the dinner. Then we partied! My friends and I at the end of the night. Married life is good!! Still have a driveline vibration I need to figure out and fix a few leaks. But all and all I'm happy with the results.

Wedding day! Finally! Longest week of my life before hand. It all went perfect though!! Go time. My dads 65 BMW R50/2 and sidecar The wife and I. I got tangled up in the beer cans. See ya!

It's been a super busy couple of weeks!! Here's what all happened! Took it to the alignment shop. Pulled it out of the alignment shop and noticed it was just turning over 53,000 miles. Or 153,000. Who knows? But, the 53 has a new lease on life at 53,000! Drove it to my buddy's shop 100 miles away for a break in test. His super nice 54 chopped Chevy. Road test went good. I ended up putting a new battery in and adjusting a few other things.

Close!! They're 6.75x15 Firestone's. Widest whitewall they had in that size. It's the stock size for a 53-54 6 cylinder car. I'm running 53 Ford rims instead of the dodge wheels though.

Been working on the driveshaft tunnel.

I will have to find the tools. I will get with you in a couple weeks. Extremely busy right now!

I just ordered a streetrod kit from inlinetube.com

Took it for a test drive today! Didn't go very far because the driveshaft was rubbing badly and the frontend needs aligned. The brakes seemed to work well. The transmission shifted smooth and the overdrive worked as well. The clutch worked much better too. As far as the ride quality goes I can't tell yet. The front tires were to far out of whack to test that. Plus I really won't be able to tell until I get the Ford Ranger rear axle in and different shock mounts.

It's just regular brake line and you slip the spring wrap over it after you bend it and before you flare it. Just adds some extra protection against it rubbing against stuff. The factory lines were similar.

Actually had some nice weather for a change and I washed and waxed the wheels and tires. Put some fancy sparkplug wires on it. Got it fired up without a hitch!! My friend and his dad came over yesterday and helped me put the front sheet metal on. What a job it is to get that all aligned!!! It looks nicer than it ever has now though. The suspension should settle more as a drive it. It's low though!

Almost have the car back on the road! Between running all new brake lines, new fuel line. and buttoning up all kinds of other little stuff. it's been a long three weeks of getting seemly nowhere. But I now have working brakes and it have fired up the engine. Getting close! I worked on my clutch linkage and got that all nice and tight again. As you can see I was missing all the little tension springs and the linkage was getting beet up without it. I simply made some bushings in the lathe and welded them in. Nice and smooth now. Some pics of the brake and fuel lines. Master cylinder Fuel filter and rear brake line.